Man Set To Be Executed For Trooper's Bombing Death

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- If there is one good thing that came out of Florida Highway Trooper Jimmy Fulford's death, it's that others' lives were saved.

Fulford died in February 1992 along Interstate 10 when a booby-trapped package exploded after a routine traffic stop. The bomb was intended for a Marianna woman who lived in an apartment complex with her baby. Court records show the bomb was powerful enough that it would have blown out windows, doors and walls if it was detonated in an enclosed area and could have killed others if opened by the woman.

Paul Howell, the man who built the bomb, is scheduled to be executed Wednesday.

Fulford is remembered by his colleagues as an excellent officer and a strong family man who was kind-hearted and willing to help anyone.

UPDATED By Julie MontanaroFebruary 12, 2014

A circuit judge in Tallahassee has denied a death row inmate's claims that a new drug being used in executions is "cruel and unusual" punishment.

Paul Howell is set to be executed later this month for the 1992 bombing death of Jefferson County Trooper Jimmy Fulford.

Howell's attorneys argued in a two day hearing that midazolam, the first drug administered during an execution, was cruel and unusual punishment. They argued it would not properly anesthetize Howell and put him at risk of severe pain when the next two drugs are administered.

Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey wrote that Howell did not meet "his heavy burden" to show that midazolam will fail to make him unconscious. "He has not shown the protocol is 'sure or very likely to cause serious illness and needless suffering' Dempsey wrote in the 12 page order.

The order was filed 15 minutes before a Supreme Court ordered deadline of 2pm today.

By: Lanetra BennettFebruary 10, 2014

Tallahassee, FL - A hearing is underway in Tallahassee to decide if a new drug in Florida's lethal injection cocktail is constitutional.

The Florida Supreme Court ordered the review in the case of a death row inmate scheduled for execution later this month.

"It feels like injecting liquid fire, if you will, and that amount would be extremely painful." That's how Dr. David Lubarsky described potassium chloride on the witness stand Monday.

It's part of a three drug cocktail used in Florida's lethal injections.

Dr. Lubarsky says the cocktail is supposed to sedate the inmates, paralyze their muscles, and disrupt the hear beat.

Lawyers for death-row inmate, Paul Howell, say a new drug being used in that cocktail - midazolam - is problematic because it would not adequately anesthetize Howell.

Dr. Lubarsky says, "Every single time whee midazolam has been used, it appears to my eye that it's not really doing what it's supposed to do or be effective."

Howell was convicted of the murder of a highway patrol trooper in Jefferson County in 1992.

The Florida Supreme Court ordered the hearing to review the drug before his February 26th execution.

Doctors testified that Howell shows symptoms of bipolar disorder and post traumatic stress syndrome from being physically abused as a child.

One of the first experts to testify says, "The grandmother would, and they had a term for it called Conking, put for the middle knuckle and hit Paul very extremely hard upon the frontal part of the head. This occurred, according to the brother, continuously, almost daily."

Dr. Lubarsky says Howell's brain issues could put him at a higher risk of the lethal injection not working properly.

The hearing will continue tomorrow. The Supreme Court ordered a decision be made no later than 2 p.m. Wednesday.

By Julie MontanaroFebruary 7, 2014

Tallahassee, Fla. -- A Tallahassee judge will soon decide the constitutionality of Florida's new drug cocktail for lethal injections.

A hearing has just been set for 1pm Monday and the hearing -which is likely to feature expert testimony on both sides - is scheduled to last into Tuesday.

The Florida Supreme Court ordered the review this week and ordered Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey to make a ruling by 2pm Wednesday.

News Release: The News Service of Florida

By DARA KAMTHE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Posting or forwarding this material without permission is prohibited. Contact news@newsserviceflorida.com

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, February 6, 2014......... The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a review of the new drug used in the state's lethal injection cocktail in the case of Paul Augustus Howell, a Death Row inmate scheduled for execution Feb. 26.

Justices ordered a circuit court to hold an evidentiary hearing on whether substitution of the drug midazolam violates the constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment by the government.

Howell's lawyers argued in briefs filed Tuesday that midazolam, the first of the three drug-cocktail that induces unconsciousness, paralysis and cardiac arrest, is problematic because it will not anesthetize him and would leave him "unable to communicate his agony" when the other drugs are administered.

The justices rejected an appeal about the new drug in a previous case, but in a four-page order issued Thursday said that an expert's report submitted by Howell "has raised a factual dispute, not conclusively refuted, as to whether the use of midazolam, in conjunction with his medical history and mental conditions, will subject him to a 'substantial risk of serious harm.' "

The court also ordered the Department of Corrections to produce correspondence and documents from the manufacturer of midazolam concerning the drug's use in executions, "including those addressing any safety and efficacy issues."

The high court ordered the 2nd Judicial Circuit in Jefferson County, where Howell was originally tried and convicted of the murder of a highway patrol trooper in 1992, to hold a hearing and enter an order on the issue by 2 p.m. Wednesday.

In September, the Florida Department of Corrections substituted midazolam for the barbiturate pentobarbital as the first of the three-drug lethal injection "protocol." Florida and other states switched to the new drug because the manufacturer of pentobarbital stopped selling it for use in executions.

The second drug, vecuronium bromide, renders muscle, including the diaphragm, unable to contract, making it impossible to breathe.

If not completely anesthetized when that drug is administered, the condemned would "experience the physical and psychological agony of suffocation," Howell's lawyers argued in briefs filed Tuesday.

The new drug protocol has been used four times since its adoption in September, but Howell's lawyers argued that three of those executed were not fully anesthetized before the other drugs were administered.

The Supreme Court on Thursday also ordered the court to consider testimony from University of Miami anesthesiologist David Lubarsky regarding problems with the state's protocol for making sure that inmates are unconscious. According to Lubarsky, the state is not waiting long enough between injections for the anesthetic to take effect. Lubarsky also testified the drug poses a significant risk for "paradoxical reactions" for Howell because he has mental health disorders and possible brain injuries.

Howell was scheduled to be executed last year but a federal appeals court issued a stay the day before he was slated to die. The stay was lifted in November, and Gov. Rick Scott rescheduled his execution for Feb. 26.

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